misophonia: anyone else rage @ certain sounds?

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Two years ago, I told an audiologist about my loathing for and rage upon hearing audible chewing of anything, as well as slurping, smacking, spitting, and having to watch anyone else do any of this. I am a tech-challenged person, almost fifty years old, and to cope with any of this--unsuccessfully to date, I carry earplugs with me at all times and am considering doubling those up under 'earmuffs' made for factory work.

I was raised to consume food in a silent, polite manner (as, I suspect, were many of Western civilisation's original etiquette mavens, as well as Dear Abby, whatever he is....). As I have some major attention issues, the noises I hate so much distracted me at first. Some fighting followed, as well as asking teachers and professors to ban gum on tests and in class in general.

For the love of the great whomever, I cannot, and will not, watch someone gargle his/her food. About all I can do now as an adult is to exit any situation in which someone is doing so, which is not always time efficient if I'm on a bus, subway or--eesh--plane. (I do not drive, nor could I afford to learn now, so that's out.)

I believe that the term 'misophonia' refers to a fear of sound. With me, it's more a rage, but the extents to which I go to avoid my set of trigger noises suggest that some degree of anxiety/fear is present as well. (No, not flip sides, at least not on this end.)

I so detest the noises that I would volunteer to have some Ph.D. in a lab aim a laser at my head to knock out whatever part of my brain--limbic system? aural pathways? both? more?--is responsible for all of this.

It makes me mean, and I do not enjoy feeling or being that way any more.

Certain noises make me really upset and agitated too. Chewing and swallowing noises, people breathing loudly and other "little living noises" as I call them bother me a lot sometimes. The noise a bus or subway train makes when it screeches to a halt is one that I really hate.

I have custom made earplugs and Boise QT 15 noise cancelling headphones. I wear the headphones on public transit. They do help but not enough. Many different noises in a crowd: people talking to each other and on phones, a child screaming, people eating and playing music ect. on the subway is what agitates me the most. This can make me mean too. When in these situations I have fantasies about bringing a giant mallet on the subway with me and smashing everyone around me. Sometimes I sniff loudly and cough to repulse people on purpose so they'll move away from me on the bus/subway.

Welcome to WP Keeperdog. I have had Misophonia since I was ten and it was not until this past summer, over thirty years later, thanks to WP, that I realized that I was not the only person on the planet who suffered with this. It is a cruel affliction and it really affects every part of your life. I have found that if I keep my energy up it helps. Eating well, being rested, trying to destress, all of these things make my trigger sounds a little more tolerable so that I can at least have time to get away from them before I freak out. I also don't freak out quite as severely if I am well rested and my energy is up. But I have wanted to rip people's faces off from trigger sounds. I think that for me, just knowing that I was not the only one who has this has done me a world of good. Having people who actually understand this for the first time in my life was huge. Everyone else just thought I was exaggerating and growing up I would get disciplined for my reactions. So it was very difficult. But yes, I know exactly what you are going through. Sometimes earplugs help and other times they actually amplify the sounds so it is always hit or miss with them.

I know that there are quite a few Misophonics on this site so at least you have friends here who understand and sympathize with you.

I didn't know this had a name, but it shouldn't be surprising, as there's names for the weirdest of things. There are some sounds that infuriates me.

- The sound(s) of an ad that just pops up on the internet and starts playing.
- Menu music (30 seconds clippings of a song that keeps repeating until you turn on the movie. Doesn't matter what music it is.)
- Opera music.
- Hiccups
- Some weird kinda gurgling thing that my mother and brother makes when their throat is itchy (luckily I've found that most people aren't able to do this), and the equally annoying phrase they answer with when I complain about it. "My throat is itching" (I guess this doesn't technically qualify as a "sound"), yeah, I know your fricking throat is itching, it's still one of the most annoying sounds ever.
- People that are kinda panting when they eat.
- Repetitive sounds as a whole, especially those that doesn't come with equally spacing.
- High pitched sounds.
- Sponge against blackboard.
- Coughing and sneezing can also bother me, depending on my mood and how often they do it.

I feel this so much. I was actually just trying to describe to my husband today the profound and horrible way these sounds effect me.
If someone is sitting near me especially, and they are chewing or making any kind of soft, sticky mouth sounds, I feel like I'm actually being sexually molested. To say the least, it makes me feel very uneasy. Like, I don't think people get it, I really hate it, it's like I become a wild animal if I have to listen to it in close range. It just pisses me off and makes me so sick. I feel bad for the people I get upset with about it, too, because it's not like it's their fault or anything. It's just so weird.
Yes, repetitive sounds, and loud sounds in a very specific pitch annoy me, but in a different way than this. The repetitive and loud, higher pitch sounds seem to actually hurt my head and eyes, and I feel shock in my body, and they totally kill my concentration for sure, which can lead to sensory overload and all that. But with these mouth sounds I get physically sick, and so beyond angry. Like I could explode if the person doesn't stop. I have violent impulses (never acted on), but they are very serious to me. I have a best friend who actually deals with the same thing.

I also come from a home where table etiquette was extremely important. I'm not sure if that's the root cause of the issue. Possibly a playing factor, though. My mom is disgusted by these sounds, too, and she was the adamant enforcer of eating silently.

I recently discovered it's probably either misophonia or hyperacusis.

It's mostly eating sounds that drive me to the brink. It's always been this way and it makes me feel bad that it makes me so angry.
Mostly, I try to distract myself if I can. for instance, my office mate will sometimes do this and my first reaction is to grab my headphones and turn some music on until she's done eating.

When people at a store can't stop coughing I just want to throw packets of lozenges right at them. I really hate it but I can't and usually don't do anything. I once asked someone who was cracking their knuckles to please stop because it makes my skin crawl and he acted like I was the strangest person in the world even though I said lots of people hate that sound, and it ranks up there with squeaky chalk. And when I think about how gas bubbles inside your knuckles its what's really making the cracking sound it makes me feel like my whole body is shriveling up even more. I also can't stand screeching kids, people arguing very loudly, and the huge jumble of noise from really crowded places. About a week ago I had to go grocery shopping at a store that my mother thought would be quiet, but instead it was so jam-packed with crowds packed and had line-ups so long I had a complete meltdown and had to run out and be taken home. I haven't gone back to that store since and I don't plan to for a while even if it might be quieter now with the holidays over, everyone has gotten their checks, and there's no report of a big storm coming, at this moment anyway.

Another really strange thing: Sometimes when people talk in really fake-sounding, thick foreign accents I literally feel a wave of pain in my chest or upper stomach area. I love spaghetti and meatballs but really wish my parents wouldn't start talking like they're bouncing on a trampoline whenever they serve it. It also happens when someone else sneezes or hiccups. What is up with that?

Some sounds make me physically hurt. One of the worst ones for me is bass thumping when no other sounds are there like at night if some idiot is playing their car stereo too loudly.

A list of noises that irritate me include (but not limited to):

-loud chewing and swallowing
-loud breathing
-loud smacking of lips
-children crying for an extended amount of time
-music blasting in cars to the point where you wonder how that person can hear

Sometimes they bother me, but sometimes they don't.

people repeatedly clearing their throat/coughing

People writing with pencils, or writing with chalk on a chalkboard

Sometimes hearing a tv played loudly will do it to me

Eating in a restaurant where the kitchen is out in the open and I can hear all the cooking sounds and pans clattering

Don't know if it's bad enough to qualify as misophonia, but I hate, hate, hate the sound of drink being poured out of a bottle into a glass. Not always (not all drinks? not all containers? or just not when I'm doing it? I don't know), but it really bothers me. Especially that amplified version when it's happening on TV/in a movie.

Also loud drinking noises - my otherwise perfectly well-mannered friend has a habit of drinking very loudly and ostentatiously from the bottle, making both glugging and swallowing sounds, and it drives me nuts.

I feel th4 exact same emotions for the exact same sounds. I just try to drown out the sound with some other sound. For example, I turn up the TV or put on my headphones and listen to music when my mom is eating.

Oh yeah, the woman who sits next to me at work never stops eating so I am constantly hearing her slurping sucking crunching chomping. THen when she gets done she starts with that sucking her teeth noise, that sssssssssssssssssssssssssllllt. Ugh.

Also, my cat has this purr - usually when he purrs I find it relaxing, but he does this thing when he wants to eat or is highly excited about something, it sounds like a purr on top of a purr and I don't know why, but it literally feels like a drill in my head.